Samsung refreshes its Notebook 9 laptop line They say Christmas season gets earlier every year, and the same seems to apply to CES. The year’s biggest tech show is a little less than a month away, yet Samsung’s already showing off what’s likely to be two of...(techcrunch)

Letter confirms criminal probe in Uber case The government has opened a criminal investigation over allegations that a former Uber executive stole self-driving car technology from a Google spin-off, a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s office has confirmed. The letter unsealed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge William...(Business and Technology News)

A partner has left Tourbillon Capital, a struggling New York hedge fund Kartik Joshi, a partner at hedge fund Tourbillon Capital, has left.The New York firm has struggled this year.Tourbillon's flagship fund is down -11.6% this year through November. Kartik Joshi, a partner at New York-based Tourbillon Capital, has left the fund, people...(Business Insider)

Microsoft makes Azure Bot Service generally available for developers Microsoft introduced the Azure Bot Framework over two years ago and companies have building chatbots for a variety of scenarios ever since. Today, the company made the Microsoft Azure Bot Service and Microsoft Cognitive Language Understanding service (known as LUIS)...(techcrunch)

Walmart gives workers a way to get paid earlier NEW YORK (AP) - Walmart is providing workers with an app aimed at helping them budget their money and get paid before payday. The retailer says it teamed up with financial technology startup Even to provide the services to Walmart's...(www.washingtontimes.com stories: News)

Justice Department confirms criminal probe in Uber case SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A recent letter from the U.S. Attorney's office confirms the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation connected to allegations that a former Uber executive stole self-driving car technology from a Google spin-off to help the...(www.washingtontimes.com stories: Culture)

Internet-Connected Toys Are Prone To Hacks And Pose Privacy Issues Watch VideoIf toys are on your holiday shopping list, make sure they can't be hacked.Connected toys are becoming more popular. They can call kids by name and can even remember likes and dislikes. This might seem like magic to children, but it's actually...(Newsy Headlines)

The new reality of mobile AR and computer vision venture capital Mobile AR from Apple, Google and Facebook and computer vision/machine learning (CV/ML) are focusing the minds and wallets of VCs in Silicon Valley, China and beyond. The $2.5 billion invested in AR/VR so far this year was balanced across AR and VR,...(techcrunch)

5 Ways to Maximize Your Video Strategy on Facebook As video increasingly becomes the medium of choice for consuming content, many advertisers have embraced this shift. Yet adoption has been shockingly slow. As technology, particularly mobile, continues to evolve, so has the way advertisers must think about video. In...(adweek)